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Friday, 2nd December 2011
In General Japan News,
Fukushima contamination ?to be washed out?
Contaminated debris leftover from the Fukushima nuclear meltdown earlier this year is set to be cleaned in a giant washing machine.
That is according to a report from the Vancouver Sun, which suggested a cleaning plant will be situated close to the power station to conduct a big rinse on items including destroyed cars and homes.
Radioactive particles will be scrubbed away as the debris is put in a water-fill drum with steel attachments created to deal with the tough materials.
A researcher at Tokyo-based construction company Toda Corp, which will partake in the exercise, told AFP: “We, as a general contractor, have experience of cleaning soil and hope that we will eventually be able to decontaminate soil as well as debris.”
While this is reassuring news for the thousands of Japanese citizens uprooted from their home times, the time-frame for the scheme could span a number of decades.
Although the government and Tokyo Electric Power are expected to announce a cold shutdown of Fukushima, it could take up to 30 years for the leftovers to be disposed of.
Meanwhile, prime minister Yoshihiko Noda has ordered for a further two trillion yen (£16 billion) budget to be drawn up in an effort to combat unstable economic conditions.
Posted by Mark Smith
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